


One Phase, A Bit to the Left

by xdluhman (deirdrepaterson)



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: M/M, McSpirk Holiday Fest, Multi, Transporter Malfunction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 09:12:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16489772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deirdrepaterson/pseuds/xdluhman
Summary: For the McSpirk Holiday Fest, Round 4Prompt from trek-tracksMissing, you say? How about a TOS version of TNG's "The Next Phase," remixed with "The Tholian Web"! Bones insists on leading an aid mission to a damaged Romulan ship against everyone's better judgment. When they try to beam him back, he's gone. Except he's not really gone - he's just out of phase with reality, thanks to new Romulan cloaking technology (they had to develop something new after the Enterprise stole the last one), and he's walking around the ship trying to get someone to notice he's still alive. Now, everyone expected Spock and Bones to argue when Kirk was missing back in TTW, but the assumption is that Spock and Kirk could just continue to be an unbeatable dream team by themselves (Spock and Kirk may have assumed this as well). Without Bones, however, and feeling constantly spooked, the cracks in command really begin to show. Then, well, perhaps the Romulans show up - and only the out-of-phase doctor can save the Enterprise by haunting the hell out of everyone.





	One Phase, A Bit to the Left

**Author's Note:**

> Normally I try to make these complete one shots, but I didn't feel I could do this justice in one go, especially with college and stuff. So the first chapter is just the setup (which I wrote and rewrote a couple of times until it sort of made sense to me). I hope to have it all finished by mid-November, but my schedule's pretty unpredictable these days.  
> The use of present tense is experimental.

"Captain Kirk, we're picking up a Romulan distress signal, 20 A.U.s away," Lieutenant Uhura says from her communications console.

 

The captain swings his chair to face the science station, where Spock is bent over the viewport. "Mr. Spock, what are the sensors telling us?"

 

"It would appear that the vessel is drifting without propulsion. We are too far out to assess life signs, but there are traces of a type of radiation only recently discovered by Federation scientists," says Spock.

 

Captain Kirk frowns. "Radiation? Is it…dangerous?"

 

Spock stands upright and faces the captain. "Federation research suggests it is not particularly dangerous in its normal form. They call it 'chroniton' radiation." He quirks an eyebrow in a way that seems almost humorous. "The name is unhelpful. As far as I am aware, these particles have no effect on time."

 

A small smile flickers across Kirk's face. "Not dangerous, not time related but still…what is a Romulan vessel doing here?" He gestures vaguely at the main viewscreen. "We're at least half a dozen lightyears away from the Neutral Zone."

 

"7.64 lightyears to be exact." Spock peers back into the viewport. "There are no warp signatures in the area, Romulan or otherwise, which suggests that the ship has been adrift without aid for the past 8.93 days, at the very least."

 

"Even so…" Kirk murmurs. He swivels his chair again. "Lieutenant Uhura, does the distress signal contain a message? Anything saying what sort of assistance the Romulans want?"

 

Uhura presses a button and holds her earpiece. "Yes, sir. They report engine failure and request medical assistance."

 

Kirk sighs, looking disconcerted. "Mr. Sulu," he says, turning to face the front of the bridge, "bring us in closer to the Romulan ship. 1 A.U. away and hold that position." He stands up. "Mr. Spock, come with me down to the Medbay. We need to speak with Doctor McCoy."

 

\-----

 

Down in the ship's infirmary, Doctor Leonard McCoy is hard at work updating patient files and sending messages to crew members who are overdue for a physical (including the captain himself). He feels lucky that nothing out of the ordinary has occurred recently; the time to relax with his partners is much appreciated, though he may not always show it.

 

He immediately regrets that thought when the doors slide open, as if he had summoned the two men in question with his stray musings. Since it is still alpha shift, he can only assume something is happening that he won't like.

 

Len stands up from his desk and moves closer to the door. "Okay, Jim, what is it this time? Epidemic amongst the crew? Consoles causing injuries on the bridge?"

 

"No such luck, Bones. We've come across a Romulan vessel, adrift and sending out a distress signal. They're requesting medical attention," Kirk says.

 

Leonard is not happy to hear this. But there's something about the request that bothers him. "So why are you telling me this instead of ordering me to take some staff and security officers over to assist?" he asks.

 

Kirk winces a little at Len's astuteness. Spock answers instead. "The vessel, in addition to being Romulan and in Federation territory, is emitting chroniton radiation. Current research suggests that this is not harmful, but it is uncertain what effects it could have when harnessed for specific uses. The captain is thus reluctant to provide aid."

 

"No, Spock, I absolutely want to give them aid. Romulan or not, dying on a ship set adrift isn't something I'd wish on anyone. I just don't want Bones to go over there." Kirk turns a pleading gaze onto Len, even though he hasn't said anything about the situation yet. "M'Benga can lead the team, can't he? Wouldn't he be more suitable anyhow, since he's the resident expert on Vulcan physiology? Romulans are relatives, albeit distant ones."

 

Len shakes his head and purses his lips. "I've got more experience overall, and I've done enough work on Spock here to have as useful a knowledge of Vulcanoid anatomy as M'Benga does. It'd be better for me to go with a couple of nurses and an orderly." Kirk looks like he's about to object, so Bones raises a hand. "Ah-ah, you've put me in plenty of danger before. I can do this. And in the extremely off chance that something happens to me, I trust M'Benga and Chapel to manage the infirmary in my absence."

 

"Captain Kirk and myself are not concerned with the management of the infirmary, Leonard, but your personal health. You mean a great deal to us," Spock says.

 

Leonard rolls his eyes. "Really? And what is it that you Vulcans say? 'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few'? Well the needs of a ship of Romulans outweigh the needs of two poor saps who just happen to be in love with an old country doctor." His expression softens. "I'm just trying to do my job. You two certainly never let me stop you from going off on harebrained missions, so I'm not gonna let you stop me either."

 

Spock merely nods, apparently satisfied with what little logic Leonard has supplied. Kirk still looks uncertain. "I just…" His expression is mixed, but his brown eyes are begging Len to understand. "Bones, I just don't know what I'd do if something happened to you, okay? I just don't know."

 

Leonard smiles and moves forward to press a kiss to Jim's lips. "Just trust me, Jim. I'll be fine. Now, get me up to speed so I can get over and back as quick as I can."

 

\-----

 

The tension never quite leaves Jim's face as they all go about prepping to send a medical party over to the Romulan ship.

 

Uhura establishes a communications channel with the officer in charge, a Commander Mernok. The commander is initially suspicious of the offer of assistance from a Federation vessel, believing the ship to still be in Romulan space. But she agrees allow the medical team to come aboard, provided that there is a guarantee that none of them are engineers looking to steal Romulan technologies.

 

When Leonard and his team rematerialize on the Romulan vessel, it seems to him that there was a slight catch as he appears. He waves it off as part of his general paranoia about transporters. Life support systems are functioning normally, though the lights flicker occasionally, and the team makes quick work of treating the injured Romulans. Most of the injuries seem to be burns, and Leonard privately suspects something unfortunate happened on their engineering deck. It would make sense, since none of their engines work.

 

He asks Commander Mernok about the lack of medical staff while his team finishes up treatment and distributes some spare first aid kits. The commander is reluctant to provide any clear information, giving a vague explanation of it all being "standard" for this class of vessel.

 

Leonard is a bit surprised that none of the Romulans exhibited any hostility. As the rest of team is beamed back to the Enterprise, he makes a cursory scan of the air with his tricorder. He identifies an unlabeled radiation peak as being the chroniton radiation Spock had mentioned. His tricorder is still scanning as the Enterprise's transporter takes hold of him; the chroniton level spikes dramatically just as he begins to dematerialize.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any comments or questions or whatever, please let me know!  
> To be continued soon...


End file.
